AdventureCPA

    Finally I found a small town before Lonely Planet!!!  (Or at least my 10 year old Lonely Planet Guidebook)    Guadalupe is a small town of maybe 1,000 population.  No heavy traffic, plenty of restaurants and hostels and great hiking.   Here you may see equine Horses, Motocycle Hondas or occasional Hyandi vehicles but many people walking about town and from their Finca to town.      A 40 minute ride in the back of a four wheel drive truck (Seats installed) with a soft serve cart on the tailgate (too heavy to put on top with that gasoline engine powering the air conditioner) takes us from the Main highway )Obija to Guadalupe.      School must start at 7AM, out at 12:30 for the day.  On one of our walks (about 10 miles a day) I spotted my idea house.  Here´s a picture. Looking at mountains, big porch surrounding the house etc.  Wonder if they have Internet? And a little more scenery. Thi...

    San Gil Colombia lists itself as the Adventure Capital of Colombia.  Popular options are rafting (from class 1 to 3 to Class 4 to 5), Hiking, Zip line, National Parks and more.     A few years ago someone decided there is an overgrown improved path from one mountain village to another.  Put up a few signs and tourist will come to walk downhill for about 5 miles from one small village to another.   Bus service between them and you have a beautiful, peaceful walk.  Makes one feel he is in the Tuscan countryside.     Next day we went to the new national park at the top of a pass between Bucaramanga and San Gil.  An interesting combination of  monument to the peasants of the region who started the revolution against Spain in 1812, amusement park with four wheelers going around a dirt track, swing going out over the open canyon and a gondola ride (Provided by PUMA) down to the bottom of the canyon and over to the other ...

     I believed I knew a little about countries and geography...but here is a city with 1,000,000 people that I had not heard of.      Bucaramanga is an industrial and market town in the heart of Colombia.  Growing quickly it has outrun it´s infrastructure with resulting horrific traffic, a little pollution trapped down in the Valley but friendly helpful people and many pretty plazas or parks scattered around the city.      We stayed at a Hostal for the first time during this trip near the ritzest part of the city and walked the streets seeing banks, Motocycle dealerships, Auto dealerships, very fancy dress shops and an enclosed four story Mall with central floor to ceiling atrium.  Among errands to do I needed to have a pair of pants shortened (forgot to do that before leaving Colorado) which allowed for local interaction.  One day service.....$2.50 US cost.                   ...

     Sometimes you make your own adventure....whether you wish to or not. In purchasing bus tickets from Santa Marta I wanted to use my newer credit card (sign up miles bonus) but the young clerk wasn´t use to chip credit cards (What, no pin!).  So the transaction lasted 15 minutes or so with a lot of tries.  Once complete we left for the bus....not knowing we left credit card back at ticket counter. All is fine on the bus, a fairly new Volvo with seating to compare to Air First Class.  The conductor comes back with his cell phone with someone one the phone who wishes to talk with me. My spanish is not good, in Santa Marta they talk FAST and it happens passenger behind me knows Spanish and English so he takes phone and explains that they have card and will send it on next bus to our destination so stay at terminal for 2 hours after arrival to pick it up. So far, so good.  But at 9PM second bus is in and no one knows about credit card.  Come ba...

  As I have mentioned in the past, it is sad that in the USA unhealthy food is cheap and healthy food is expensive.  Here it is the opposite although the percentage of overweight people far exceeds the percentage in SouthEast Asia.   Fresh food is very inexpensive.  We purchased the following at the Vegetable Only, Campensino Market (several in Santa Marta) for US$2.50. Locals restaurant Meals can be cheap but involve a lot of fried products.  At tourist restaurants meals cost the same as Alamosa, CO (which is less than Denver but still not a bargain).  (But are very good.) Santa Marta has a number of high rise residential buildings (along waterfront and elsewhere in town) which are constructed and condoized.  I walked into one to view the offering.  Seems that $70,000 US will purchase a 550 square unit with balcony, one bedroom, one bath, kitchen/living room combined on about the 10th floor.  Condo fees are said to then be about $100 a...

    East of Santa Marta is Tyronia (Spelling) National Park which is said to have the best beaches in  South America along with lots of birds and wildlife.  We didnt go there  (Denyse forgot her berka).  But just past the park is a miles long beach at the town of Palamino.  Another hippy, young person hostel town just growing into it´s tourist future.  After checking the beach out we contracted for the river float and ended up on a two hour float down the Palamino river which ends at the Beach.  I believe I spend one of my nine lives on the back of a 125 cc moto driven by a 17 year old to take up to the put in point. Then two hours of minimum rapids and shallow water to the beach.  A number of the hostels also have space for camping either in your tent, their tent, their hammock, dorm room or private room.  This is a 1960s Carribean beach resort at a small fraction of the cost of any other Carribean island.

     After a four hour bus ride from Cartagena to Santa Marta, Colombia taxi to our second AirBNB.  Uneventful although surprised by the apartment which I am sure usually rents for a lot less than we are paying.  Its OK, still a good deal.      Above and behind a small tienda (combination small grocery, hardware and drinks store) but right on Avenue Liberador which is the main route into the Central City.  Buses will stop anywhere there is a passenger to pick up and cost is 1600 Colombian pesos or US 50 cents. Fifteen minute ride to Commercial Center, Beach or Market.      Santa Marta is HOT is time of year, but a 30 minute bus ride away is Minca, a throw back to the Hippie era of Backpackers and Hostels.  At 600 feet elevation  is cooler than Santa Marta and a number of water falls and swimming holes attact the crowds.     Not using the Motorcycle Taxis ( A monopoly) we also walked up to a waterfall/s...

Sorry, no photos yet, will be working on that. But Arrived in Cartagena, Colombia after 36 hours in transit so immediately slept 12 hours plus.  But it has now been a few days here so on with the observations. 1) Like Viet Nam, this country has been modernizing even when the USA spotlight is off of it.  WIFI and cell phones, modern autos and motorcycles. 2) What body of water is Cartagena on?  Yep, the Carribbean (or Atlantic if you are an ocean buff.) 3) For USA citizens, cost of living is low unless you expect tourist restaurants for every meal and upgrade to all US standards. 4) It would be quite difficult to negotiate Colombia without some Spanish.  In other South American countries residents will switch to English is you have trouble with Spanish but here very few residents know English, even among the tourism workers.  TV in our AirBNB has only Spanish channels.  In Asia usually one or two channels with English.  (Often BBC or RT (Russi...